


Sadie Has Some Thoughts

by HK44



Series: Percy At The Nome [4]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Kane Chronicles - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, Rejection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:35:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24411427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HK44/pseuds/HK44
Summary: “It’s okay,” he said quietly. She knew he was lying but she didn’t call him out on it. He didn’t need that right now. “I mean. It was dumb. Right? He told me I’m not his type.”
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Percy Jackson
Series: Percy At The Nome [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1759660
Comments: 2
Kudos: 90





	Sadie Has Some Thoughts

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to [Sunbee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunbee/pseuds/sunbee) \- who gives me lovely fluff content and in exchange I throw buckets of sadness at her because I cannot function without a little angst. You’re great and also, I am sorry.

Sadie was lounging in the living room when a mass of shadows bundled out from the wall. She barely raised an eye as Nico stepped out, empty-handed, with little sheds of darkness clinging to his clothes. Part of her always wondered if his clothes had had previous colour and constant shadow-travel had just leeched it all away.

He seemed less guant this time. His skin had a healthy little glow about it, hair fluffy than slick and matted down with oil. She actually wanted to touch it rather than shove it under the nearest stream of water with a pair of gloves on and more shampoo than anyone would ever need.

She slid up from where she was sprawled on the couch and grinned at him. It wasn't snowing outside but there had been a strange chill to the late summer air. Barely noticeable but there. Persephone must've snuck home again.

He always looked like a living person when she was.

"Hey, _ Nico."  _ She grinned, baring all her teeth. "What are you here for?"

He didn't look at her because the answer was obvious. 

Percy.

When he used to appear it was only when Walt called. He'd appear in a cloud of shadows, terrify everyone  _ but _ Felix for some reason then vanish off with Walt to help him train. At first, it was simple things. Summoning skeletons, summoning ghosts. It had expanded from there once he'd gotten a handle on it. Learning how to get a handle on his ability to age something so fast it turned to dust in his grip had been one of Walt's biggest issues and something that had taken the longest to master.

Sometimes he'd stay for dinner but he'd linger so far out on the outskirts of the group, Sadie would forget he was there until she'd look up and catch sight of black eyes watching her and everyone around her.

It would have been creepy if it hadn't been so sad.

But ever since Carter had moved Percy in, he'd been showing up much more frequently with lies about why he was there hissing through his teeth. Percy never said anything about it. How could he? He wasn't there for the first four years of Nico only showing up at Walt's behest. At him only hanging around casually for a couple hours at best before he vanished before anyone could ask him to stay just a little longer.

For some reason, the younger kids adored him. They were always sad when they turned and he was gone.

Nico treated the Nome both like a second home and a place of his own entrapment. He never asked permission to use anything but the moment he was able to leave, he left.

So it was fascinating, and  _ obvious _ to the reason why, when he'd started showing up in frequent bursts and lingering just long enough that Sadie was finally gathering actual information about him direct from the source and not just passing anecdotes from one of her boyfriends.

It was nice too, to see Percy around someone that wasn't just Carter. Honestly, he followed Carter so much and so close on his heels, he seemed like a bloody security guard just seconds from asking Carter to empty out his pockets. With Carter, he was easygoing, calmer. With everyone else, he was spooked and nervous. Especially the children.

Sadie hadn't realized the reason why until she passed by his room one night and peeked inside, curious why the door was open. Cleo had been choking on her knees, Percy's eyes so blue they were glowing in the dark.

It had been so confusing. They were separated by half a meter but Cleo was so obviously dying and it was very clearly Percy's fault.

Sadie had punched him fast, reacting purely on instinct and sisterly panic. He snapped out of it. Panicked. Apologized so much as he both fretted towards and away from Cleo and Sadie. Then he crawled out a window before she could stop and question him and vanished on them for two weeks before Nico brought him back, poisoned and bleeding out.

Cleo didn't go near him for the following two months. Percy didn't approach her or anyone that wasn't Carter for just as long. He barely made eye contact and when he spoke, he sounded strangled yet quiet.

It must've been strange. To be raised always feeling alone and then be introduced to people who  _ understood _ you, people you grew to love and then find yourself straddling the border between protecting them and killing them all. 

Carter was easier. Whether that was because Percy always immediately recognized him as a friend instead of a threat was up for debate. One could have said the same about Nico but Percy had still jolted awake one evening, Riptide slicing through the spot where Nico had been.

_ That _ had been kind of cool to watch, if not utterly terrifying in the moment. Nico's entire body had shimmered, as though displaced from reality, and solidified when the blade had fully exited his person. Walt had begged him for days to teach him how to do it before Percy had pulled him aside and explained something he wouldn't tell Sadie no matter how many times she asked. From his pinched eyes and the deep frown that would cover his lips at the thought of it, it clearly wasn't a good thing.

So she relented and instead tried to cultivate more reasons for Nico to come visit. Unlike Percy, the offer to stay wasn't extended to him but there seemed to be an unspoken rule among all the gods, not just hers, that Nico had a presence in all their lives whether they wanted it or not. Anubis commented on it once or twice and it had been so  _ interesting _ to find out that, well, they really weren't alone. He would never tell her how many of them were real and how many weren't. Or how they overlapped each other without bringing the world to a war every day.

Something about the way his eyes blackened made her think that it was  _ very difficult _ . Though, given Nico's propensity to just show up and hand either one of her boyfriends gifts or letters from his dad for her dad, she had a feeling that  _ maybe _ Underworld gods were a bit more chill.

It made sense.

Everyone died eventually. With all the people in the world and all the people already dead, did it really matter who went where? If it were her, she'd be  _ more _ than happy to have someone pick up a handful if it kept her space a little clearer.

She sat up to her knees and leaned against the back of the couch as Nico approached her. He was tentative, like a stray cat, but as soon as he cleared enough space, he relaxed and smiled softly at her.

He had such a nice smile. She wished she could see it more.

“You dyed it again.”

She ran her fingers through her hair. She'd gone for a washy purple this time, light enough and patchy enough that her blonde pushed through. Anubis had ran his fingers through it obsessively for hours when it dried. “Ah, yeah, the colour was fading out.” She dropped her hands and leaned up and close into his space. “You want me to do you?”

He blinked at her owlishly then shrugged. “Maybe next time.”

A wide grin split her mouth. He scowled at her face and she toned it down. Well. As much as Sadie could tone down anything about her.

“Nico!” Percy’s face brightened up as soon as he saw him. He had thrown on a pair of shorts but still wasn’t wearing a shirt, having just woken up if his bedhead was anything to go by. Sadie watched Nico’s skin burn. “Hey! What are you doing here?”

“Persephone wanted me to give something to Walt for Anubis,” Nico lied. His hand, hidden behind his back, dipped into his shadow along the couch. In a second, he’d pulled out a cut lily made from gold with a ruby glittering where the pollen should be. He showed it off. “She thought he’d like it.”

“You know. Since Nu gives me, like, everything, you should just-” Sadie reached. “-give me the flower. I’m probably gonna get it anyway.”

Nico shot her with a side-eye and smacked her hand away. When they both turned back to Percy, he was only a couple feet away and approaching quickly. Flustered he ran a hand through his hair. His smile was dropping ever so slightly. “Uh, I think Walt’s on the roof. My window’s open and I’m pretty sure I hear him swearing at Freak.”

“Ah, yeah.” Sadie gestured loosely. “Carter’s visiting the First Nome with Zia this week. Everybody’s on duty. Except me. Because I “will use him for crimes”.”

Nico snorted and Percy rolled his eyes. “You will use him for crimes.”

“Sneaking into a museum to steal back artifacts is not a crime because the initial theft was a crime so it balances out and also-” She snapped her fingers into fingerguns. “Fuck you, white boy.”

He grinned wide and slowed to a stop beside Nico. Reaching out, he ruffled her hair. “Yeah, yeah, whatever, weirdo. At least I have a reason for standing out in these photos. What’s yours,  _ blanquita _ ?”

Cleo watches One Day At a Time one day a time, and suddenly that’s all they were calling her for months. She swatted his hand away from her head and rolled off the couch, springing to her feet. “ _ Bitch _ .”

He just laughed and looked back down at Nico. His happy demeanour slowly shifted away. “Uh - well, I can bring the flower to Walt if you want.”

“I can wait.”

He smiled softly again. “That- that’s cool. You wanna get something to eat?”

As Nico murmured something soft and they delved into near silent conversation, Sadie squatted to check out the rest of the DVDs. Since Percy was up and teasing her, she was going to throw on The Little Mermaid and make him sing every song even if he did have the voice of an undignified seagull.

She grabbed the case with vindictive glee and swung around. “Don’t grab the container with the-”

Her entire body stilled. Percy had leaned down, Nico slipping up to his tiptoes to meet him, their faces less than a millimeter apart. If one of them had been wearing glasses, it surely would’ve fogged with their breaths.

Nico shoved Percy back, skin flushed red. “Uh, I-” His voice caught and he shoved the flower into Sadie’s hand. “I- I have to go.”

“Wait-”

He was gone before either one of them could stop him.

“Oh my gods, Percy.” She stared at him. He was watching the spot where Nico had plunked through the ground with forlorn disappointment. “I am- I am so sorry. I didn’t- I didn’t know you were- I had a  _ feeling _ but I didn’t-”

“It’s okay,” he said quietly. She knew he was lying but she didn’t call him out on it. He didn’t need that right now. “I mean. It was dumb. Right? He told me I’m not his type.”

If any other scenario, she would have laughed, loud and obnoxious, until he was scowling at her. Percy was everyone’s type. Tall, muscular and soft hair. Instead all she could muster was a weak, “I’m pretty sure he was lying.”

He let out a sharp bark of a laugh, more animal than man, more misery than the sound was supposed to have. He shoved his hand through his hair and looked away from the spot, from her. “I don’t know if I’m more hopeful that that’s true or if I’d rather he just still be hating me because that’s easier to understand than anything else.” He let out another laugh and dropped his hand. “Um. I’m- I’m gonna get a headstart on your laundry.”

His body language, arms pulling into his side, head ducked, eyes refusing to meet hers no matter how much she stared at them - he wanted to be left alone. And she didn’t want to do that. 

But she didn’t want him to run from somewhere he felt safe by becoming overbearing so she nodded. “Remember - just throw everything in at once. I don’t care about colour bleaching.”

He nodded and turned around, leaving a cold wash of air in his wake.

She slid to a flop on the couch and fingered the pretty gold flower in her hands.

Were they all this dumb or was it just them - a boy desperate to be loved and understood without any of the pain of his former life clinging to him like a vice and another boy too scared to try just in case he might get burned?

**Author's Note:**

> In this house, we like suffering. But only when Percy's involved. I'd feel bad but meh.


End file.
